The Searching

As a youth pastor, caring for teenagers became an everyday occurance. It was a privilege and a joy to serve them. Watching them during weekly services was always interesting. Some would come with an incredible emptiness, searching for God....absolutely alone in that quest. Others liked the social aspect of youth group and found safety with church peers. Still others arrived simply because parents made them. Either way, they were all there and I (along with my wife and a leadership team) made a point of telling them how Christ could make a difference in their lives....while we roller bladed, biked, prayed, played, Sumo wrestled, walked, rocked, listened, ate, spent all-nighters together, attended retreats and events together. I'm getting tired just thinking about it! Relationship and being an example were absolutely key. Whether I was successful or not would best be described by those attending those services and events. Privilege and joy give rise to concerns as a Youth Pastor or in my current position as Minister of Music because it's hard for me to overlook teenagers obviously uninterested during corporate worship. I see adults too, but being a former youth pastor, my eyes gravitate to youth.... and well.....I've seen that uninterested look before. I don't think it's a function of style as much it is a function of isolation that causes the lack of interest in our teenagers. Most of what happens in the sanctuary is directed toward adults. Let's face it, it's a difficult task trying to get 12-92 year olds tracking on the same page. I read something recently regarding teenage lack of interest with worship written by Bob Metcalf, editor of Pastor's EXTRA! on lifeway.com. His fourth point on the subject "Reasons Teens Give For Not Attending Worship" was "Worship Doesn’t Make a Difference in Their Parents’ Lives". He writes, "These dropout teens went to worship because their parents told them that it was important. But once they discovered that it was a show for their parents and their lives were no different because of the experience, the teens decided that worship was unnecessary and unreal". Ouch! The other three reasons were as follows: The Sermons Don't Speak To Teens, Teens are Too Often Stereotyped, and Teens Feel That They Aren't Understood by Church Leaders. Wow! What do you think?
-Tim Covert